Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Las Cosas Pequeñas

We've been here for almost a week, and despite a spate of travel adventures like crime and fainting, most of our time has been spent navigating the most basic tasks of setting up our lives here.

For example:

- We bought a SIM card for our cell phone, and we think it works (we have a signal), but we don't know how to buy minutes for it. The website is entirely in Spanish. Our landline works, though, and we can make free local calls and receive calls.

- Every time we buy a baguette at the grocery store, the cashier asks us a question. We respond by looking confused. So far we've always managed to walk out having bought the baguette, but we're still not sure what we're being asked.

- One of the girls in our Spanish class has a birthday today. I wanted to bake something easy, like cookies, but I couldn't find baking soda or chocolate chips in the grocery store. I bought a cake mix instead, but I have yet to find a pan in which to bake it.

- We're going to join a gym tonight, based on the recommendation of anther expat, Dave from NY. We met Dave and his girlfriend Mersal last night. They moved here in August of last year and their blog is a great reference for us!

Improving our Spanish will help with all of these challenges, and we have a couple of supplementary conversation classes to attend this week that will hopefully help move that process along.

In other news, the weather continues to be insanely beautiful, hovering at 25-30°C (80-90°F) for the foreseeable future. Today was a federal holiday and we spent the afternoon lounging in a park (Plaza Palermo Viejo) near our apartment.

2 comments:

Adam Wishneusky said...

how does a federal holiday have any impact whatsoever on your VACATION. I hate you. I miss you. I hate you.

Anonymous said...

Hey guys, nice to meet you!
- We can help you walk through the mobile phone mess. We usually just buy via the mobile phone. (Dial *444 for Movistar)
- With the baguette, she's asking if you want her to break it in half or put it in the bag in one piece. Broken makes it easier to carry home!

It all comes with time... :)